Letter from Douglas Hudson to his parents

Letter from Douglas Hudson to his parents

Reports arrival of their latest cable and writes of the last one he sent them. Hopes mother would have good birthday. Reports arrival of other letters but still worries that his are not getting through. Assures them he has not forgotten them and is writing twice a week. Hopes the photograph he sent in the last letter got through. Mentions that they are publishing a weekly paper and list some content. He is typing all the copy for it and wished he could send them a copy. Hopes to send photographs various in the future. Comments that he has taken up smoking a pipe again.

1942-01-18

Two page handwritten letter

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EHudsonJDHudsonP-HE420118

Royal Air Force. 755052. Sgt. J.D. Hudson.
c/o Consoul General Les Etats Unis.
Rue Michelet.
Alger. Algeria. Afrique du Nord.
18-1-42

My Dear Mother & Dad,
Since I wrote my last letter to you I was very pleased to receive your cable of Jan. 14th three days ago, reading as follows :- Delighted cable eighth did calendars arrive awaiting letters latest dated September seventeenth. Written to-day all love, to which I replied immediately :- “Delighted cable fourteenth already wired greetings Mothers birthday bookmarks received latest letter dated December seventeenth all love”. The very day before your cable arrived I sent a telegram message for mothers birthday as follows :- Many happy returns Mothers birthday all love wishes. I hope this arrived in time for the day; perhaps both cables will have arrived in time, I do hope so. Tomorrow, being the nineteenth my thoughts will be with you both very much and I trust that Mother will have a good birthday and get lots of greetings. I have received one letter from E.W.7 dated December 21st informing me that he has now obtained a full time job in the Fire Service. Also a letter which I was very pleased to receive from Dorothy tells me that the communal letter written to [indecipherable word] addressed to Grandad, arrived. I am very pleased to learn this. Dorothy’s letter was written on December 20th so you will see that the mail from England is getting here quite quickly and fairly regularly. I wish the same could be said about the letters written from here, but even if the mail is uncertain rest assured that I have not forgotten you and try and be consoled by knowing that I have written always twice a week, and that I shall continue to do so unless any order comes

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through restricting the number of letters, which I don’t think will. In my last letter I sent a post-card size photo tableau of a small group of us when Padre Cummins visited us before Christmas. I hope it will get through. I mentioned also in my last letter that Tony was the Editor of a paper which we have started publishing weekly called the “Camp Echo” it includes articles, humorous and serious, stories, poems, cartoons and drawings done by those in our midst, and as we have recently acquired a typewriter I have undertaken the task of typing all the copy. This is a big job as each issue contains about ten thousand words, and each article has to be studied carefully for errors in spelling, punctuation and phraseology. I wish it was possible to send you an issue but I am afraid it is not. I should like to take a few close up photographs of one weeks copy – if this can be done may be I could send a print to you. At an early date I hope to send you a small photograph showing the primitive method of cooking we employed at [indecipherable word] I wrote a letter of condolence and sympathy to Mrs. Clayton and John a few days ago. In case it does not arrive perhaps you would inform them of this and tell them how sorry I was to learn of Mr. Clayton’s death. I too have taken up pipe smoking again. I bought rather an expensive pipe (50 francs) perhaps this is a good thing because the tobacco is very inferior. The pipe is quite the most satisfactory I have possessed and I am hoping that finally I shall be able to manage. Tony and I both received your bookmark calendars and Christmas cards but no large calendar. Tony wrote a letter of thanks to you and enclosed it with one of mine before Christmas. Now I must say good bye once again. Every best wish for tomorrow, and all my love for all time.
Douglas.